How many times is James mentioned in the Bible?
The word James appears 42 times in the King James Version, in 38 verses. It is found in 8 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses James 42 times.
At least two apostles are named James, and so is the brother of Jesus. Every use is counted.
James in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of James counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| James | 42 | 42 |
| Total | 42 | 42 |
First and last mention of James
And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.
Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:
The verse that uses it most is Acts 1:13, 3 times:
And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.
Verses with James on our topic pages
1 verse that uses James in the World English Bible is in our topic collections.
After six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John his brother, and brought them up into a high mountain by themselves.
Common questions
How many times is James in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 0 of the 42 uses are in the Old Testament and 42 in the New Testament. James appears in 8 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Mark has the most (15), then Luke (8) and Acts (7).
Where is James first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Matthew 4:21: "And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them." The last is Jude 1:1.
James is also the name of a book of the Bible. See its 5 chapters, 108 verses and reading time.
More word counts: Judas, Martha, Lazarus, Gabriel, Michael, Stephen, Timothy, Thomas, or all 253 words.
Counted by Bible Says About from the full public-domain text of the King James Version (1769 edition) and the World English Bible. Verse text only: headings and psalm titles are left out. A word is a run of letters: a hyphenated name like Beer-sheba counts as two, and an apostrophe stays inside its word (LORD'S is one). Matching ignores capital letters. Data compiled 2026-10-05.